Remember to take those crucial little breaks as you savour your journey in life. Below is the original photo courtesy of Tan Siok Siok:
Foreign to Myself (看不清的自己, Kànbuqīng de zìjǐ)
There was this moment at Berkeley that is somehow stuck in my memory. It was the first week of class, and I was in a Chemistry lab class. We were supposed to partner up with the other person on the same bench to conduct an experiment that I no longer recall, and my partner was […]
Dining Etiquette in China
Customs and etiquette are a big part of traditional China, and the dinner table is one place where some of these traditions are still retained, especially if it is a formal or business dinner. Seating Arrangements There is a Chinese saying that is 对号入座(duìhào-rùzuò), which literally means “to sit in the seat with the correct […]
Lesson 22 – Perfect Aspect Particle 了(le)
In lesson 22, we learned the other major use of 了(le), which is to function as a “perfect aspect particle”. What does that mean? It means that 了(le) can be placed after a verb to indicate that the action described by the verb has occurred or is completed. One way to recognize this use is […]
活到老、学到老 (Learning is a Lifelong Journey)
Is lifelong learning one of your motivations in life?
The Chinese Art of Gifting
Even though I grew up in a traditional Chinese family in a predominantly Chinese Singapore, it was interesting that the sentiments I had with regards to gifting were rather western. I was actually 30 years old, and starting to take on the China market, when I learnt the phrase 礼多人不怪(lǐ duō rén bù guài) from […]
My Dimsum Steps to a Domus Dream
Have you ever experienced failure? Chances are if you have ever learnt another language, you might say that you have. You might think of the many times you have forgotten a word that seems to be at the tip of your tongue, or when you forgot how to conjugate a particular verb, or when you […]